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 Is this a vampire from Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot” movie or a character from one of the author’s "sermons"? Both, pastors say.
June 2nd, 2012
10:00 PM ET
The Gospel of Stephen KingBy John Blake, CNN (CNN) - When the horror novelist Stephen King was once asked why he wrote such gross stories, he said he did it because he had the heart of a small boy - which he kept in a jar on his desk. With his beady eyes and I-just-killed-the-cat grin, King looks and sounds like a horror novelist. But when the Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl read several of King’s novels, he learned something new about the author: There’s a lot of faith behind his fright. Zahl says some of the most stirring affirmations of Christian faith can be found in the chilling stories of King. The horror master has been preaching sermons to millions of readers for years, only most of King’s fans don’t know it, he says. “People tend to think that Stephen King is anti-religious because he is a horror writer, but that’s completely mistaken,” says Zahl, a retired Episcopal priest who has written about King’s religious sensibility for Christianity Today magazine. “Several of his books are parables of grace in action.”
Want to read a powerful meditation on Jesus’ sacrificial love? Check out how King links the death of the mammoth death row inmate John Coffey (note the initials, J.C.) to Jesus’ crucifixion in “The Green Mile.” King’s “Storm of the Century” is a creepy retelling of Jesus’ eerie encounter with the demon called “Legion” in the Gospel of Mark’s fifth chapter. And King’s epic apocalyptic novel, “The Stand,” reads like a contemporary retelling of the Book of Revelation, with a little Exodus thrown in, Zahl says. Zahl’s claim about King's faith may sound ludicrous. King, who just released his latest novel, “The Wind Through the Keyhole,” has written at least 50 horror novels such as “Carrie” and “Misery.” Yet there is an actual body of literature devoted to King’s religious sensibility. Several pastors and authors say King displays a sophisticated grasp of theology in his books, and his stories are stuffed with biblical references and story lines taken straight from the Bible. “If God brought lawsuits, Stephen King would face a charge of plagiarism,” says J.M. Rawbone, an English horror novelist who has written an essay about the Christian themes in “The Stand.” King, whose publicist did not answer a request for an interview, has talked about his faith before. He describes himself as a Christian on his website and elsewhere has said he was raised as a “hard-nosed” Methodist taught to believe in the Antichrist. Some of his literary influences are Christian authors. In one interview, King said he was shaped by C.S. Lewis, author of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” and J.R.R. Tolkien, author of “The Lord of the Rings.” Both Lewis and Tolkien were devout Christians who layered their fiction with Christian themes. “I’ve always tried to contrast that bright, white light of real goodness or Godliness against evil,” he said in a 1988 interview. “I’m not a proselytizer, and I hate organized religion. I think it’s one of the roots of real evil that’s in the world. If you really unmask Satan, you’ll probably find that he’s wearing a turnaround collar.” The best way, though, to understand King’s faith is not through his words, but through his stories. There are at least three biblical themes that run through them. A child shall lead them Every horror writer seems to write a vampire story eventually, and King is no exception. “Salem’s Lot” is one of King’s most popular novels. It depicts a vampire’s attempt to colonize a modern-day New England town. Traditional vampire stories are loaded with Christian symbolism, but King inserts another biblical theme into “Salem’s Lot” that would reoccur in many of his books. It comes in a scene showing a standoff between a priest and vampire. Father Callahan tries to protect a teenage boy with him by brandishing a cross. The vampire dares the priest to toss the cross away and face him on faith alone. Father Callahan hesitates, his faith long diluted by alcohol and skepticism. The vampire wrenches the cross from the priest’s hands, while the boy escapes and becomes one of the vampire’s most formidable enemies. When the Rev. David Squyres read this passage from “Salem’s Lot,” one of Jesus’ most popular sayings flashed before him: “… Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” In the moral universe of King, children get God better than the adults, Squyres says. “The vampire humiliates the priest because the priest doesn’t have real faith, but the kid has real faith,” says Squyres, pastor of the Palms Baptist Church near Palm Springs, California. “The priest represents the Pharisees. They believe in relics. But the children, and the teenager, have a simple faith. They don’t put their trust in institutions. They trust in the Lord,” says Squyres, who has written about King’s Christian sensibility at his website, "talkstephenking." Many of King’s most popular novels are filled with young heroines driven by faith. It’s a reflection of a famous passage from the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament: “And a little child shall lead them.” In “The Talisman” and “It,” King features adolescent heroes who risk their lives battling evil, according to Marylaine Block, who wrote about King’s religious sensibility in an essay called "Something Wicked This Way Comes." “In both novels, the adults are incapable of understanding the evil that is about to envelop and destroy their world. They see the signs, but choose not to understand them. Only the children know what is happening, and know that it is up to them to save the people they care about,” she wrote. God can be cruel King’s most explicit Christian novel is “Desperation,” which features another adolescent hero driven by faith. The boy, David, is converted by a miracle and prays to God for help. King depicts his faith without irony and with reverence. “Desperation,” though, contains an unusual description of God that reveals some heavy theology from King, several pastors say. During the bloody climax of the story, a character tells the boy that God is “cruel.” That line caught the attention of Zahl, the Episcopal priest. It speaks to what he calls “the answerable sovereignty of God.” Zahl says King is depicting a side of God that’s woven into the Bible. It is not the God whose eye is on the sparrow, but the Holy Other, incomprehensible, the one who allowed Job to suffer. It’s the same side of God that the narrator in “The Green Mile” reflects on when he reminisces about the death of the innocent John Coffey, the Christ-like figure who never hurt anyone, but perished while a villainous guard lived on. Zahl points to this passage from ”The Green Mile”: “Yet this same God sacrificed John Coffey, who tried only to do good in his blind way, as savagely as an Old Testament prophet ever sacrificed a defenseless lamb. ... If it happens, God lets it happen, and when we say, ‘I don’t understand,’ God replies, ‘I don’t care.’ ” Zahl says King can say things about God in books that pastors can’t say in the pulpit. In King’s novels, people often suffer while doing good. “Americans generally want to hear that everything is really terrific all the time,” Zahl says. “Americans want to control and manage everything, and they’re eager for anything that pumps them up. When you preach a message from the Bible that life is much more difficult, and there’s a huge amount of suffering, those messages don’t always go down well.” 'God chose the weak things' As a teenager, King used to collect scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings detailing the crimes of serial killers, says Stanley Wiater, co-author of “The Complete Stephen King Universe: A Guide to the Worlds of Stephen King.” King's mother grew so concerned that one day she asked him why he kept the scrapbook. Wiater says King answered with: “I think there’s evil out there. I want to know what it is, so when it comes, I can recognize it and get out of the way.” In King’s books, characters can’t avoid evil. They have to confront it, but they often don’t fit the conventional definition of heroes. “The Stand,” another explicitly Christian novel, illustrates this pattern. A plague has wiped out mankind, and a group of unarmed survivors are dispatched via a vision from God to confront a satanic figure called the Darkman. The group seems to have no chance. One is an elderly, genial professor; another a deaf mute, and a third figure is a genial man with the mental capacity of a child. Against them: the Darkman’s ruthless army, which literally crucified its foes. The makeup of the group underscores another popular religious theme in King’s work that’s reflected in this line from the apostle Paul in the first Book of Corinthians: “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” Zahl, the Episcopal priest, says so many heroes in King’s books are broken people: physically frail, alcoholic, disabled and lonely. Even the evil people are rendered with compassion. “King understands grace at a deep level,” says Zahl, author of "Grace in Practice." “He typically concentrates on the marginalized and the outsiders who ultimately carry the day. God often does his work where people are the most messed up.” King may have converted Zahl, but the priest and others admit there’s a risk invoking the horror novelist in the pulpit. When Zahl mentions King in church, he says many listeners think first of books they want to keep away from teenagers. Still, there are secret converts. “Half of the other people in the congregation have read Stephen King, though they may not want to shout it out to the world,” he says. “They know what I’m talking about. They come up later and they say I’m really thrilled that you know about him.” The doubters shouldn’t be surprised that King’s stories contain religious themes, says Rawbone, the English horror novelist and author of "Bunker." The Bible is filled with terror: demons, ghosts, floods wiping out mankind and the rising of the dead. “Good horror examines the struggle between good and evil,” he says. “The Bible is the history of that struggle. “The Bible is in many ways the ultimate horror novel.” |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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For you.
A thought to consider without a typical ego response
Accept Jesus christ as your lord and saviour. You never know how soon is too late. Transcend the worldly illusion of enslavement.
The world denounces truth....
Accepting Jesus Christ (for me) resulted in something like seeng a new colour. You will see it .....but will not be able to clearly explain it to anyone else..... Its meant to be that way to transend any selfism within you.
Also... much the world arranges "surrounding dark matter into something to be debated" in such a way that protects/inflates the ego.
The key is be present and transcend our own desire to physically see evidence. We don't know anyways by defending our own perception of dark matter.
Currently.... most of us are constructing our own path that suits our sin lifestyle. Were all sinners. Knowing that we are is often an issue. But both christians and non are sinners.
We don't like to Let go and let god. We want control to some degree. This is what Jesus asks us to do. "Follow me".
It's the hardest thing to do... but is done by letting the truth of scripture lead you (redemptive revelation)... as I said .
Try reading corinthians and see if it makes sense to you. Try it without a pre conceived notion of it being a fairy tale.
See the truth...
do we do what it says in todays society... is it relevant... so many have not recently read and only hinge their philosophy on what they have heard from som other person...which may have been full of arogance pride or vanity..
Look closely at the economy ponzi, look at how society idolizes Lust , greed , envy, sloth, pride of life, desire for knowledge, desire for power, desire for revencge,gluttony with food etc .
Trancsend the temporal world.
Just think if you can find any truth you can take with you ....in any of these things. When you die your riches go to someone who will spend away your life..... You will be forgotten.... history will repeat iteslf.... the greatest minds knowledge fade or are eventually plagerzed..... your good deeds will be forgotten and only give you a fleeting temporary reward . your learned teachings are forgotten or mutated..... your gold is transfered back to the rullers that rule you through deception. Your grave will grow over . This is truth .
Trancsend your egoism and free yourself from this dominion of satan. Understand you are a sinner and part of the collective problem of this worldly matrix... Repent.... Repent means knowing (to change) The Holy spirit (within) will convict you beyond what you think you can do by yourself. Grace is given to those who renounce the world. That are" in" the world but not "of " the world.
Evidence follows faith. Faith does not follow evidence..... Faith above reason in Jesus Christ.
Faith comes by Reading or Hearing the word of god from the bible . Ask Jesus in faith for dicernment and start reading the new testament... You will be shocked when you lay down your preconceived notions and ....see and hear truth ... see how christ sets an example ... feel the truth....
Read Ecclesiastes. Read corinthians.
You cant trancend your own egoism by adapting a world philosophy to suit your needs. Seek the truth in Christ.
Sell all your cleverness and purchase true bewilderment. You don't get what you want ....you get what you are in christ.
I promise this has been the truth for me. In Jesus christ .
Think of what you really have to lose. ...your ego?
Break the Matrix of illusion that holds your senses captive.
once you do . you too will have the wisdom of God that comes only through the Holy Spirit. Saved By grace through Faith. Just like seeing a new colour.... can't explain it to a transient caught in the matrix of worldly deception.
You will also see how the world suppresses this information and distorts it
You're all smart people . I tell the truth. Its hard to think out of the box when earthly thinking is the box.
I'ts a personal free experience you can do it free anytime . Don't wait till you are about to die.. START PUTTING YOUR TREASURES WHERE THEY REALLY MATTER >
Its awsome and It's just between you and Jesus
my testimony
hit report abuse...spamming,,,,,,,,,
Cq the women had their own tents and the men were not allowed in if they were menstrous. I'm shocked that you don't know this. De Law said a man who had a wet dream was ritually unclean. With no woman in sight. Don't blame women 4 anything! Ritual laws concern God n us alone. Moral laws r for u n me
Your silly jibes at women owning property is funny! A law was passed specifically granting a man's property to his daughter's if he had no son's apart from their dowries! A woman's inheritance was given her at marriage as dowry b4 that. The sons had to wait for their father's demise or work for it.
CQ
De Jews knew about de distinction btn moral n religious Law. De various sects including Xtians empasised them differently. Rabbinic Judaism emphasises ritual law a great deal whereas Xtianity(A form of Judaism) emphasises moral law. "To obey is better than sacrifice"-Prophet Samuel.
All the Prophets b4 Christ including Moses Himself preached the distinction between Moral and Ritual Law! If u don't read and practise it then why do u think u know!
Men were ritually unclean if they had contact with semen, especially another mans', but "spilling seed" outside of a woman's body was (is) also seen as wasteful. If Christianity is concerned with "moral law" what makes you think that gay relationships belong within that category? Do gay relationships hurt anyone? No, they may not be to everyone's taste, but they hurt other people about as much as somebody liking sweet potatoes when you can't stand them. It's none of your business what other consenting adults do in their own privacy without hurting themselves, or others, right?
CQ
De rest of de answer is up!
However it wasn't de other person's bodily fluids which made u ritually unclean but ur very own!
De Law's injunctions on certain s.exual practises don't concern piety but rather morality. A ritual law doesnt make u holier than anybody. Its a moral law which does!
Nii
If it was a person's own fluids then why were women sent out of the tent during their periods? Also, the distinction of importance between "ritual" and "moral" laws is a Christian one. The Jews saw the ritual laws as being just as important to their connection with God as the rest. If you want to argue that the old Law was replaced by Jesus then you have to dump all 600 plus laws, including those against men sleeping with men. It's a package deal, no cherry picking.
In context, you have to remember that rival mystery cults at the time of Paul featured 0rgies where all manner of $exual indulgence was available. It's highly doubtful that he had the kind of loving, committed relationships that gays wishing to marry exhibit. There is nothing shameful about being in such a relationship, is there? These folks would be about as likely to partake in an 0rgy as you and your spouse would.
CQ
De funny thing is that what we have learnt about love n refuse to apply! A romantic r/nship is not de highest form of love that can exist b/n two men. Its actually the last but one. DE HIGHEST IS CHARITABLE LOVE n it enables morality rather than counters it! De divorce rate is romance's legacy!
Nii
Again, it is your opinion that "charitable love" is superior to romantic love, and that romantic love counters morality. You have nothing to actually base this on, right?
Speaking of the divorce rate, by what right do straight people have in saying that gays will corrupt the integrity of marriage when more than half of our marriages fail? And I believe that the divorce rate is highest in the Bible Belt/conservative areas of the USA, so don't try to lay it on liberal America.
CQ
In terms of Paul, I wud like to remind u that the Law came direct from the mouth of God not Moses. Calling something unnatural is not the same as calling it sin. Sin is both unnatural and SHAMEFUL. A word he used for the males only since he knew the Law n we are emphasising words here.
For you.
A thought to consider without a typical ego response
Accept Jesus christ as your lord and saviour. You never know how soon is too late. Transcend the worldly illusion of enslavement.
The world denounces truth....
Accepting Jesus Christ (for me) resulted in something like seeng a new colour. You will see it .....but will not be able to clearly explain it to anyone else..... Its meant to be that way to transend any selfism within you.
Also... much the world arranges "surrounding dark matter into something to be debated" in such a way that protects/inflates the ego.
The key is be present and transcend our own desire to physically see evidence. We don't know anyways by defending our own perception of dark matter.
Currently.... most of us are constructing our own path that suits our sin lifestyle. Were all sinners. Knowing that we are is often an issue. But both christians and non are sinners.
We don't like to Let go and let god. We want control to some degree. This is what Jesus asks us to do. "Let go and let god".
It's the hardest thing to do... but is done by letting the truth of scripture lead you (redemptive revelation)... as I said .
Try reading corinthians and see if it makes sense to you. Try it without a pre conceived notion of it being a fairy tale.
See the truth...
do we do what it says in todays society... is it relevant... so many have not recently read and only hinge their philosophy on what they have heard from som other person...which may have been full of arogance pride or vanity..
Look closely at the economy ponzi, look at how society idolizes Lust , greed , envy, sloth, pride of life, desire for knowledge, desire for power, desire for revencge,gluttony with food etc .
Trancsend the temporal world.
Just think if you can find any truth you can take with you ....in any of these things. When you die your riches go to someone who will spend away your life..... You will be forgotten.... history will repeat iteslf.... the greatest minds knowledge fade or are eventually plagerzed..... your good deeds will be forgotten and only give you a fleeting temporary reward . your learned teachings are forgotten or mutated..... your gold is transfered back to the rullers that rule you through deception. Your grave will grow over . This is truth .
Trancsend your egoism and free yourself from this dominion of satan. Understand you are a sinner and part of the collective problem of this worldly matrix... Repent.... Repent means knowing
Evidence follows faith. Faith does not follow evidence..... Faith above reason in Jesus Christ.
Faith comes by Reading or Hearing the word of god from the bible . Ask Jesus in faith for dicernment and start reading the new testament... You will be shocked when you lay down your preconceived notions and ....see and hear truth ... see how christ sets an example ... feel the truth....
Read Ecclesiastes. Read corinthians.
You cant trancend your own egoism by adapting a world philosophy to suit your needs. Seek the truth in Christ.
Sell all your cleverness and purchase true bewilderment. You don't get what you want ....you get what you are in christ.
I promise this has been the truth for me. In Jesus christ .
Think of what you really have to lose. ...your ego?
Break the Matrix of illusion that holds your senses captive.
once you do . you too will have the wisdom of God that comes only through the Holy Spirit. Saved By grace through Faith. Just like seeing a new colour.... can't explain it to a transient caught in the matrix of worldly deception.
You will also see how the world suppresses this information and distorts it
You're all smart people . I tell the truth. Its hard to think out of the box when earthly thinking is the box.
I'ts a personal free experience you can do it free anytime . Don't wait till you are about to die.. START PUTTING YOUR TREASURES WHERE THEY REALLY MATTER >
Its awsome .
Wow, how did we get from an article about Stephen King's writing to this ugliness? I've been reading his stories – that's all they are, you know – for 30+ years, and am a devout Christian who practices organized religiion a couple times a week, every week. There's alot to be said for tolerance, and everybody not fitting into the same square hole.
Agreed! Most of us atheists are aware that many Christians are tolerant of those who do not share their beliefs. We only lament that there aren't a lot more of you out there.
Take care. 🙂
King reminds me somewhat of Flannery O'Connor. She was a Catholic writer from the South (talk about your basic misfit !). She wrote Southern Gothic literature. Her faith is encrypted in her works. But in Southern Gothic literature there's usually a freak (ex. Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird) from which we can all learn something.
I read The Dark Half where Thad Beaumont buried his personality's dark side only for it to take on a life of its own. The Book taught me that don't bury your problems. Deal with them or they'll come back to haunt you! Can't anyone moralise anymore!!!
The article attributes many christian themes to King's stories, and that may be true but the themes are not specific or exclusive to christianity. They are universal themes of humanity.
Also, take note about King's appropriate aversion to religion. Now THAT was heavenly!
Grace is not a universal by any stretch. The only faith that rests on faith alone for deliverance and life is Xianity
Jim
Are you arguing that this actually makes Christianity superior to other religions, or that this is merely a unique Christian theme?
John 3:16-17
Take GOD at HIS word!
You mean take whoever wrote John at his word, don't you?
No.
Take GOD at HIS word.
It's GOD's word. HE used men to pin it.
One day, when you meet HIM, ask HIM.
And you will meet HIM. Either as a friend or an enemy.
Your choice.
Accept GOD's grace will you still can. Accept HIS son Jesus.
By no other name cam you be saved. Eternally.
Amazing_Grace_how_sweet_the_sound
Do you trust every man claiming to speak on God's behalf?
"Saved" from what, exactly? An existence outside of God's presence that I believe I'm living already, or an eternity in his torture Gulag, the place where he sends all those who don't tote the party line?
@Cq...
So, what is your personal issue with GOD and Jesus and the Bible?
You may be a reasonable, sound minded person who just has a whole bunch of questions?
Since GOD so loved you HE would let HIS son die on a cross, rise from the dead on the third day and now sits in heaven waiting for the end of days to judge the world, I would like to think a reasonable sounded minded person would want to know more. Not slam the door in someones face.
But guess I was wrong.
You have a great day
GOD still loves you.
So... um... what if GOD is a SHE?
I know you'll find some way to shoot that down because your infantile mind could never grasp such an alien concept.
@Sue..
First let us presume you are not Johnny Cash. :-))
You are like many, make the bible fit Sue. Not the other way around.
GOD's word refers to Himself as Heavenly Father in several passages. You judge for yourself. Pointless issue.
Now, with your brillant mind – what did you call your earthly father? Mom? Was he a she? Were you just as confused then as you are now?
You don't have a problem with male vs female. You have a problem with the creator in HIS perfect ways and will for your life.
Rebelion is sweet for the moment, isn't it?
HE loves you as you are, but you may want to check your heart and motives when questioning GOD'S gender. That is not the real question you had in mind. What are you really doubting? His existance or His authority as creator of all?
HE waits for your answer.
Amazing_Grace_how_sweet_the_sound
I know that you were instructed to always speak as though God's existence were fact instead of just conjecture, which it is, but I have no more "personal" issue with God, Jesus and the Bible than you have with Zeus, Hercules and the Odyssey. Is there any doubt that, had the Greek religion won out and became the dominant one of today instead of Christianity, that folks like you wouldn't be evangelizing for Zeus, holding up his son Hercules as some kind of ideal, and imploring non-believers to sacrifice a few animals "just in case"? There were such people back even in Paul's time, right? It's the same old tune, just with different lyrics.
People who "enjoy" books and films as S. King writes as entertainment, are treading on dangerous ground. This is how people become demon possessed. You don't play with fire and not get burned!
Satan desires glory. And this man's books, and film made according to his books are subtly glorifying satan. He does not care how he gets the glory, so long he gets it. You who are lost, without Christ, and are blinded by satan, you will never understand this, till the day of your appointment with your Maker....
But those who say they're Christians, they SHOLUD understand... but so many don't. It only shows how apostate is today's Christianity! That too is a sign of our times in which we live, as we see prophecy of the Scripture fulfilled....It is being evident more and more every day!
Good grief. What is wrong with you?
Now tell us about Rock & Roll and dancing.
This post is absolutely hilarious in its content, but scary in its message. The message is scary because other people feel this same way...that is horrifying thought. Thank you for the laugh though...I should probably pre-reserve my seat in hell because I love Stephen King's books...perhaps I shouldn't pack sweaters?
PRISM is in a mind-control cult known as the Jehovah's Witnesses. I recognize the lingo. They have an obsessive fear of demons. Even little toys can be demon possessed. Many of them even thought the Smurfs were demon possessed. They have a new video they released to help indoctrinate their children to obey, obey, obey. It's a little cartoon animation where the kid brings home a toy wizard and his mom says "It will make god angry. You don't want to make god angry do you?"
There are those of us who read for Mr. King's entertainment value. I for one have not noticed any religious inferences n his works. I'm too engrossed in the storyline. If you'd bother to read it, you'd find your own bible is filled with horror. Maybe you need to go find a nice snake to play with...
Nope, Ball Juggler
You're way off of the base. No J.W. here!
They're blind leading the blind. But you couldn't tell who's blind and who's not, and to you all are the same! You are stumbling and fumbling in your own darkness, so it's no wonder you can tell no difference!
P.S
http://www.horrorking.com/interview4.html
In this interview much is hidden, but also much revealed....depending on who you are!
'A child' shall lead them ?
This guy is anything but 'A child' !
The guy is a creep.
His stories are psychopathic and disturbing. Anyone who reads them and watches those type of pictures is dabbling in the wrong stuff! And they wonder why are they so disturbed? Duh... Go figure!
Isn't King's daught a minister?
Yup, an American Unitarian Universalist minister, and a lesbian to boot. A real fundamentalist dream.
FIZZLE
Note that de Bible doesnt recognise de definition for lesbianism deeming it a form of masturbation which it DOESN'T CONDEMN as some ministers wud have u believe! Gay males r condemned 'cos they sleep with a man as with a woman. It shud be noted that u cud go an.al with a woman as well.
So Nii, what if a man mastur-bates another man, is that okay? What about o-ral?
Nii
Nope!
"26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural $exual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error."
Romans 1:26-27
What kind of "unnatural" $exual relations do you imagine Paul was referring to? However, if the problem with gay relations between men revolved around the unclean exchange of bodily fluids, as most scholars seem to conclude, then it would make sense for the Jewish male-led religion not to be concerned with women coming in contact with other women's "fluids". The cleanliness laws were enforced to keep women's fluids away from men, right?
CQ
Define male-led. in a time without police n standing Army ur husband was both. The women were glad to help their husbands. There were female prophets too. This being the highest order of the clergy!
Nii
Would it have been possible for a woman to be the sole breadwinner in her family back then, or for a single woman to raise a family by herself like we see from today's modern, empowered women? That's what I mean by male-led. You assume that the women were just "glad" be keep their place.
I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
Ecclesiastes 7:26
Two fellows are putting up a large sign beside the road. It says "Turn Around! The End Is Near!" A guy drives by, shakes his fist out the window and yells, "You #%&^% Bible Thumpers! Get outa my face!" He roars around the curve. There is the sound of screeching tires and a huge splash. One fellow turns to the other and says, "Do you think the sign should have just said Bridge Out?"
This was an ineresting article and I agree with the author. I read 'The Stand' many years ago and believed then that Stephen King believes in God. The book 'Desperation' also clearly shows this. The reference to the scene in Salem's Lot is right on track. I loved that discussion in the book, about Evil (with a capital) versus evil (lower case). Stephen King is an extremely talented author and no one today can create characters like he can, that seem so real, that you truly care about what happens to them. May God bless Mr. King and his loved ones.
and if he does believe, that doesn't make god real.
King also writes about vampires, ghosts and monsters, but that doesn't mean that he, or anyone reading his books, actually believes in such things, right?
@CYBERHACKSTER
How grown is your wife? are you anybody on behalf of the CNN!
@Cq
go ahead, take gods word as truth, just stop imposing it on ME, I may not feel the same as you. its your moral imperative to do so!
What are you saying?
Even an insect has the ability if given opportunity to put two religions into squabble. What a tragedy!.God created the whole world except America.not long ago great people created that for themselves,only to let down by the crazy people.
so true cosmicC.
as a big JRR fan, i have no trouble seeing how one could interpret it as "christian" but hmmm ive never heard about that, and christopher is famously private. why cant jrr write a story about good vs evil and it NOT be christian?
i get kind of an icky feeling about christians, usually....
A person walks into CNN headquartes to find out someone to prove the Bible is a fake and GOD does not exist.
He (or she) finds a professor, a preacher, am athiest, and a copy of the Bible sitting in a conference room.
The professor is 70 years old
The preacher is 55
The athiest is 20 something
and the Bible is over several thousands years old.
The person ask, what us your authority on the Bible?
The professor answers, I have multiple degrees in world religions.
The preacher says, I have a Doctoric from a major seminary.
The Athiest says, I went to both schools these two went to and have studied the writings of many great thinkers. Read the bible many times. More questions than answers.
The Bible does say anything. Just sits there.
Suddenly, it opens and turns to Genesis 1. They all are amazed.
They all read out loud, in the beginning GOD.
Enough said the person looking for information.
I have what I needed. Since none of your were there in the beginning, I'll take GOD'S word as the source of truth.
Have a great day!
Why would the atheist be "amazed" if he had already read the Bible several times? None of them were there at the beginning, but neither were any of the Bible's authors, right? "GOD's word" is in the same boat as everyone in that room, so why trust it any more?
christian c rap.
"None of them were there at the beginning, but neither were any of the Bible's authors, right? "
But GOD WAS THERE! And He breathed His Word by His Spirit upon the vessels of clay He created, so to preserve it as a testimony of Himself to mankind....
The Word of God is inspired by the Spirit of God , and He bears witness to His Word. But the world does not know Him, nor it can ever know Him. These are the words of Christ Himself.
Oh, baloney, Prissy.
PRISM 1234
"But GOD WAS THERE!"
So you believe, but you have no proof of this, do you?
Here's a hint, the Exodus never happened. There, Bible is wrong. Therefore it is not the word of God.
I have 2 questions:
1. What did the athiest do for a living? The other two guys had jobs but you forgot to tell us where the athiest worked.
2. If the bible was over several thousand years old (pre Jesus Christ I guess), why didn't they sell it on ebay and buy some beer and pizza with the profits? I'll bet they could have got $50 or $60 for it.
@Rich...
Two interesting questions you had. I'm sure you have others like:
Which came first, Chicken or egg? Did Adam have a belly button? Where did Cain's wife come from? Were there dinasours in the bible? Who was talking to when HE said let us make man in OUR image? It has rained forty days in a row since I've been alive, why wasn't the whole earth washed away like in NOAH'S time? Etc...
Lots more I'm sure... You can ask HIM when you meet HIM.
Here's GOD's question we all have to answer:
What will you (Rich) do with Jesus? Accept or reject?
Is that your final answer?
This article is one person's theorizing about King's beliefs. It explicitly says that King did not comment for the article. His past comments should stand, but the author decides to interpret King's beliefs. Religious authors are once again coopting something for their own purposes. Ferchrissake (yes, irony intended), let these books stand as they were intended: works of art meant for individual interpretation and enjoyment.